Strange Picture

  • We Will Collective May Donor Drive - Last Day, Help Needed!

    We're in the final hours of a critical push to signup donors for the May Donor Drive. Let your Cyclone friends know!

    Please consider giving at We Will Collective.

redrocker

Well-Known Member
Sep 5, 2006
2,245
56
48
Ames - West-CY'd
I found this on Ebay. It is a program from 1985. Can anyone explain the different color helments (why)? Also, I did not think it was called Cyclone Stadium and Jack Trice field back then.

IowaStateProgram.jpg
 

keepngoal

OKA: keepingoal
Staff member
Bookie
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jun 20, 2006
38,436
22,841
113
if you made a play or did a good job, you got a yellow helmet or red helmet (can't remember). since then NCAA ruled it un'lawful'.

-keep
 

ISUFan22

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
33,922
904
113
Denver, CO
This was one of those "brilliant" ideas from our football past. As keep said, one player (or more, not 100% certain) for each game got a different color helment based on the previous week's game and/or practice - for good play and hard work, etc.

Gave the defense a great chance to key on our better players.
 

cyclonekj

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
1,180
64
48
if you made a play or did a good job, you got a yellow helmet or red helmet (can't remember). since then NCAA ruled it un'lawful'.

-keep

In case anyone's interested, I also ruled it un'intelligent.' Why put a giant bullseye on your best player's head?
 

ISUFan22

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
33,922
904
113
Denver, CO
To be somewhat fair, it wasn't always our best player. Just someone that worked the hardest in the previous game and/or that week's practice.

From what I understand.
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,204
762
113
Criner awarded players gold hemets if he thought that they deserved to be considered for the All-Big 8 team. Even the players disliked the idea as the guys with the odd helmets tended to be targets of taunts and extra hits during the games.
 

Jer

Opinionated
Feb 28, 2006
22,927
21,492
10,030
It could have come in handy this past year - lineup Sandvig as WR with the helmet on every game and keep throwing to Blythe/Bates/Sumrall/Hamilton/etc. Great decoy if you ask me:laugh:
 

jdoggivjc

Well-Known Member
Sep 27, 2006
59,560
21,076
113
Macomb, MI
It could have come in handy this past year - lineup Sandvig as WR with the helmet on every game and keep throwing to Blythe/Bates/Sumrall/Hamilton/etc. Great decoy if you ask me:laugh:

You assume that Blythe would have completed a route... :twitcy:
 

Wesley

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
70,923
546
113
Omaha
Are not having different color helmets opening your team up to a racial/prejudicial lawsuits at some point? For instance, the Hawk qb might wear a pink helmet and he might be sued by a another Hawk lineman who wanted to wear a pink hlelmet instead of say old grunge brown. It could get nasty in practice.
 

Cyberclone

Active Member
Aug 6, 2006
348
77
28
Pulled this from an article, I found describing Criners reason.

"In the 1960s, when the Washington Huskies wore plain gold helmets, players who graded out to some absurdly high level on defense would be awarded a purple helmet for the next game. So you'd have most of the team wearing gold, but one or two guys a game on defense would be outfitted in purple."

• That innovation later spread to Iowa State, as Chris Andringa explains: "In the mid-1980s, ISU head coach Jim Criner instituted an 'award helmet,' instead of merit decals. ISU's helmet at the time was a yellow shell with a red stripe and logo; the award helmet was a red shell with yellow stripe and logo. In a 1983 newspaper article, Criner said, 'By providing a different-colored helmet, you won't see running backs and wide receivers with 10,000 decals on their helmets and some ol' offensive and defensive linemen, who do the majority of the work, with nothing on their helmets.' According to the 1985 ISU football media guide, 'Yes, using two different-colored helmets is legal. The players simply are required to wear matching jerseys.' Of course, this made scouting easy for the opponent -- just find the guys in red helmets and key on them."
 

brianhos

Moderator
Staff member
Bookie
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jun 1, 2006
55,016
26,412
113
Trenchtown
The yellow helmet was to signify to the defense the only player who was any good on the team. Just made it easier for them to keep track of that one guy.
 

wesley_w

Well-Known Member
Oct 23, 2006
2,051
1,227
113
redrocker, if you are looking for a program from that era, I will give you one. About the helmets, it wasn't week to week, I think once you had the red helmet you kept it the rest of the year. I have tons of slides from those days so I will try to scan some and get them posted, but I think there were multiple guys having the red helmets at the same time. Steve, isn't that the way you remember it?? Also, like you, I heard the players didn't like it.


I found this on Ebay. It is a program from 1985. Can anyone explain the different color helments (why)? Also, I did not think it was called Cyclone Stadium and Jack Trice field back then.

IowaStateProgram.jpg
 

wesley_w

Well-Known Member
Oct 23, 2006
2,051
1,227
113
The yellow helmet was to signify to the defense the only player who was any good on the team. Just made it easier for them to keep track of that one guy.

Criner should have given the red helmets to the bad players to really foul up the opposition.
I think I have to stand up for Criner a little bit because I always hear him getting trashed. He won a national championship at Boise State before we hired him. At that time of course they were 1-AA. He has had success in Europe and he also coached at Sacramento in whatever league it was they played in.

I was at the press conference where he was introduced. It was in a smallish room and there were probably 100 people there. This was to replace Duncan who people always claimed was way too predictable on offense. The first question from the media was "what type of offense will you run?" and Criner replied "unpredictable" and the room erupted with applause.
He also said that day, and it was the first time I had ever heard it, that "offense wins games and defense wins championships". I doubt he was the first to say it but it was the first time I had heard that. I've only heard it a billion times since then.
 

frontrangeclone

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
1,280
33
48
50
Cache Valley
twitter.com
for freaks sake, no wonder this program has had logo and color identity issues even up until the changes made for next year! ISU couldn't even have a team with all having the same colored helmets. Does the NBA still have players in the All-Star game wear jerseys of their respective teams during the game?